Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference to discuss the arrests of 225 people in an undercover investigation named “Fool Around and Find Out.”
The three-day human trafficking operation — named “Operation Forced Labor” — took place Feb. 6 - Feb. 8 at an undisclosed location in central Lake County, focusing on identifying, safely recovering, and stabilizing victims of human trafficking, according to the sheriff’s office.
Two Central Florida service organizations are working to help young girls who have been victims of human trafficking.
A man arrested by Flagler County deputies is accused of having sex with multiple minor victims in exchange for drugs, money, clothes and food, according to the sheriff’s office.
Shana Bryant, 38, was sentenced Tuesday, after being convicted earlier this month of using runaways from the foster care system and coercing them to commit sex acts for money.
Two people among 219 arrested in a Polk County prostitution sting now face human trafficking charges, one of them having sold sex services out of an Orlando-area hotel, according to the sheriff’s office.
A 16-year-old girl who was found dead outside a Pine Hills home Monday evening was last seen leaving a Florida Department of Children and Families office back in August.
A man suspected of child molestation was arrested Thursday in a human trafficking investigation, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
A Florida man will stand trial in Minnesota this summer on human smuggling charges following his January arrest after authorities just across the Canadian border found four migrants who had frozen to death during a blizzard.
Police with the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation arrested two women and a man accused of trafficking at least three teens for sex acts at several hotels in Orlando.
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Florida’s top prosecutor is warning the public about human trafficking ahead of the Super Bowl. “With entertainment events such as the Super Bowl, there is an increase in human trafficking,” Moody said. In the week leading up to last year’s Super Bowl in Miami, authorities arrested 44 people and rescued 22 victims of human trafficking, according to Moody. Law enforcement also works with the hospitality industry, like hotel employees, about how to spot trafficking, according to Bakeman. You can also call the human trafficking hotline at (888) 373-7888.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than 170 people were arrested on charges ranging from solicitation of prostitution to human trafficking of a minor in case involving a girl who was 13 when the two-year investigation began, Florida law enforcement authorities announced Tuesday. The investigation began in November 2018 when a Tallahassee police investigator noticed photos of a minor on a website offering sex for money. “Never have we had a case of this magnitude.”The crimes also went far beyond the city line and included suspects from Alabama and Mississippi. Tallahassee police worked with several local, state and federal agencies during the investigation. “She does have things to say,” Bascom said.
